Vahan
At root it means "shield", a name of protection. Fewer than 70 men in Poland carry it, and no boys got it last year, so meeting one would stick in your memory.
Vahan Pronunciation
What Vahan means
Where Vahan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Vahan comes from Armenian, where the word vahan means shield. The origin is Armenian. It sits outside the Slavic and Latin families that fill most Polish registers, and its short meaning in Polish reads plainly: tarcza, obrona.
The best documented bearer is Vahan Mamikonian, a nobleman born around 440 who served as marzpan, or governor, of Persian Armenia. He rebelled against the Sasanian Empire in 481 and defended Armenian faith against Persian pressure. A man named for a shield spent his life holding one.
On a Polish class register, Vahan stands apart from the Anteks and Szymons around it. The name has no Polish diminutive of its own, no imieniny fixed in the calendar. What it keeps is the meaning it began with: shield.
How many people are named Vahan
1 in 309365 men in Poland is named Vahan. 69 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #4376 among male names.